One thing that museums and museum people understand is the value of aligning around a shared mission and vision, and the importance of keeping your eye on the ‘long game.’ These values were clearly on display at the recent MAAM Building Museums Symposium 2025.
Powerful reminders and inspiring calls to action permeated the sessions, and I found many of nFusion’s core values and project approaches aligned with the discussions.
In the opening Keynote: “Environment & Inclusion,” Sarah Sutton of Environment and Culture Partners encouraged “don’t back up, don’t back down” when it comes to committing to implementing your vision. She also highlighted the importance of planning for the future and not to VE “readiness” from our budgets. I found this to be both an actionable take-away and a powerful metaphor for how nFusion approaches design-build project strategies. Early planning and alignment, along with prioritizing and protecting the core values of a project will benefit your investment for years to come.
I was also pleased that multiple panels highlighted the critically important process of team and relationship building, including making the intentional choice to dedicate time and money make all team members stewards of the shared vision for the project. Of note was the approach the Milwaukee Public Museum took to sync the architectural and exhibit design process, bringing on all teams at one time and embarking on a “Wisconsin Wonders” tour around the state. They defined a shared set of values, aligned the whole team around the goal of being champions of the history of the land and its people, and then gave them the ability to dive in. This prioritization of early team alignment is central to how we approach projects, and I appreciated seeing a range of examples of how institutions are employing this.
Beyond project teams and visions, the importance of early integration of the connection to diverse audience needs was also highlighted. Building human-centered design and accessibility into project plans from the start, rather than as afterthoughts, were repeated themes. Just as making content-driven design changes late in a project can have significant impacts to schedule and budget, so can trying to tack on things like compliance and authentic engagement. Joel Sanders of JSA/MIXdesign went further to call out that late integration of accessibility can also add to the stigma of being different. It goes to show that integrated and aligned project plans from the start will increase efficiency and deliver the most amount of value to the visitors, while also making all guests feel equally welcome.
Johnathan Alger of C&G Partners began the opening keynote by describing the group in attendance as “Very precise, with a lot of passion.” I couldn’t agree more, especially since I feel the same can be said about the nFusion team and our approach. I left feeling excited to be part of the Building Museums community, inspired by the compatible means and methods being employed, and ready to get back to doing the work.
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